Confound
by Shadow's Firebird
Summary: It's been years since Spirit last saw Stein, and in the middle of a mission to infiltrate his lab, he's found a little earlier than he would've liked. Imagine this happening...a little before Soul Eater ever started. No pairing, just terror.


**Kage: Okay, this is a HUGE contrast to the rest of our Soul Eater fanfiction, which is usually light-hearted and full of wonderful yaoi-ness. :3**

**Hoshi: This was actually going to be read to our Creative Writing class, but we changed our minds at the last minute. **

**Kage: Believe us, most other Soul Eater fanfiction will be much brighter than this, and if we have anything to say about it, Stein and Crona will be raped by Spirit and Kid respectively.**

**Hoshi: Copiously**

**Kage: Repeatedly.**

**Hoshi: So for now, for your horror enjoyment, here's a dark little tale to probably not share with your children!**

Tap…tap…tap…

_Footsteps echoed through the desolate hallways, but Spirit was still blind to who owned them. His back was to the wall of this dark room, the cramped air within its confides growing humid with his sweat. Chilly moisture formed as the freezing plane behind him sucked at his damp jacket. This was a fear he had never even fathomed, and it was entirely inexplicable. Who was it that was searching for him? An enemy? A monster? What did he care who was after him, he was a Death Scythe! He could take whatever was thrown at him! This tiny wisp of confidence fought for recognition through a sea of terror and self-doubt that were completely uncharacteristic of the redhead. It began to refuel his courage bit by bit, only enough to keep him from trembling any harder than he already was. However, just as soon as the little emotion flickered to life, the low purr of a ghostly voice snuffed it right out._

"_Spirit-senpai? Where are you? Don't you want to play with me?"_

_Spirit whimpered softly, gulping back the terror threatening to burst from his bitten lips. He absolutely could not be heard. Somehow he knew that if this stranger found him, horrible things would happen to him. Not death, certainly not death, but fates so gut-wrenching that he'd wish he'd never been conceived. So afraid of giving himself away, he squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that if his gaze couldn't be met, he couldn't be found._

"_Oh Spirit-senpai! Please come out now!"_

_Why was that cheerful, almost child-like voice so familiar? Had he heard it before, somewhere in the deeper recesses of his nightmares? It didn't sound at all threatening, but that was what frightened him most. One that simply sounds as if they mean no harm usually has darker intentions beneath their mask of contentment. It takes a true psychopath to murder with a smile._

_Suddenly, the footsteps he'd been hearing began growing louder, and more rushed, as if his pursuer had heard something. He quickly covered his mouth, hoping that his location still remained an enigma. _

'_Don't breathe…don't breathe…he can smell it!' He told himself, though he didn't know why he thought his stalker had this skill. Perhaps instinct, or fear-induced paranoia._

_As quietly as he could possibly manage, he slithered across the floor of the room, trying to retreat into the nearby corner where the light from the crack in the door didn't shine so brightly. His feet moved soundlessly, his breathing stopped and his limbs in as little motion as necessary. Inch by inch, he slunk back into the shadows, away from the door. A tiny bubble of relief floated up through his subconscious. At least there was a lesser chance of being found here. Almost to the corner now, just a few more scoots…_

_CRASH!_

_To his utter horror, he'd managed to overlook a large coat rack that dominated this portion of the closet. Rejecting his entry into its domain, it collided with his rear, the impact sending it careening forward until it smashed on the floor, narrowly missing his left leg but breaking off two of its prongs. Spirit had gotten greedy, searching for more shadow, and had paid for it. Now, there was no doubt that he would be found. And to none of his surprise but a great deal of his alarm, the footsteps were now just outside his little room._

"_Spirit-senpai? Is that you in there?"_

_Again, this playful tone of voice seemed to ring more than just a few bells in the man's sweat-drenched head. He knew this voice. It was far too familiar to be just a coincidence, induced by panic. Now slight curiosity mingling with his anticipation of a gruesome demise, Spirit looked up, watching a shadow loom into the sliver of light in the doorway._

_A pair of large round glasses reflected the fluorescent glow, only adding to the eeriness of this gruesome face. Stitches dug their way through pale, sunken flesh, slicing up through the creature's cheek and into his hairline. A cigarette was lightly clenched between cruelly sharp teeth, emitting puffs of a foul-smelling smoke that ground its odor into Spirit's lungs. Matted gray hair covered eyes of nearly the same shade. And probably most grotesque of all was a massive bolt plunged through the side of this monster's head, poking out above the opposite ear as naturally as if this fearsome being was born this way. The body of a man, the face of a killer, and a voice that Spirit only seemed to recognize as it uttered his death sentence._

"_There you are, Spirit-chan! I've been looking for you!"_

_The redhead's eyes widened as he met a gaze partially covered with artificial glare. His lips quivered as he whispered, "S…Stein?"_

"_Yeah, it's me," The man confirmed, his tone both casual and somewhat sinister. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"_

"_Stein…what the hell happened to you?" Spirit choked. "Look at you! Your face is in stitches! There's a _screw_ in your head!"_

_Stein glanced up at the metal protrusion as if he'd just noticed it. "Oh this? Yeah, I installed it a while back. Keeps my brain running smoothly."_

_With a sick grin, he grabbed the head of the bolt and began to turn it backward, causing it to make a grisly winding sound. Almost as if his brain _were_ powered by the thing. Spirit swallowed back what he assumed was probably a wave of vomit and straightened up, hoping to talk to Stein about whatever he wanted. After all, they'd been friends for years. Perhaps his intentions weren't as dark as they'd seemed._

"_W-well…what is it that you chased me here for?" The redhead inquired, his voice meek._

_Another deliberate flash of glare covered Stein's glasses, hiding his eyes from the man before him. He grinned at the poor fool's weakness and terror, but also at the reply he was about to issue. "As you can see, Spirit, my body isn't as fit as it used to be. Experimenting on myself has become taxing and frankly, I can't handle it much anymore. And if you'd noticed, my lab here is fresh out of new test subjects."_

_Spirit was dumbstruck. "Your lab? What the…Stein, you've been conducting experiments on yourself? On other people? Have you completely lost your mind? Just what the hell are you trying to do with all this?"_

_His only response was a rather detached laugh. "What I'm trying to do is simply further my knowledge of science, as is all I ever do. The entire world is one big specimen for me to dissect and examine, and that includes the people living on it. Have I lost my mind you ask? Well yes, I suppose you could say I have."_

"_B-but…that still doesn't explain why you cornered me," Spirit pressed. "What do you want from me?"_

"_That's simple. I want my test subject back."_

_Spirit's eyes got very wide as he quickly tried to find the meaning in this sentence. Test subject? Since when was he ever carrying something of Stein's, especially one of his gruesome experiments! He softly asked what the man meant by this, and was given a reply that he did not at all expect._

"_Your wife took you away from me. If you two hadn't gotten married, I'd still have you around to prod at, and pull apart. You were such a good subject, sleeping through every experiment I performed, regardless of the pain you should have felt. I grew to miss that contented little expression you wore on your dreaming face as I dug my scalpel into your innards. You were so cute…I almost felt bad about switching your kidneys and other organs around."_

_Feeling deeply violated, Spirit gave him a repulsed look. "That doesn't answer my question, Stein."_

_The scientist continued on as if he had not heard the man. "But now, you've grown quite a bit, haven't you? I heard that your wife made you into a Death Scythe all on her own! How incredible, to think that she turned the most interesting specimen I ever had into something even more fascinating." He tilted his head to the side dementedly, grinning ever wider. "To put it simply, Spirit-chan, I've been trying to find you because I'd like to experiment on you some more. With your new incredible powers, you should provide different results than a normal human would in some tests, and might even have a lower mortality rate than most! Oh, just think of the projects we could embark on, how much fun it would be!"_

"_Stein…you're completely mad…" The redhead whimpered, slowly backing away from the man. "Y-you're not going to make me a tool again, you psychopath! I'm getting the hell out of here!"_

_Before he could even fully stand, Spirit felt a sharp pain in his neck. A glimmering scalpel had been thrown forward, jamming its cool blade in his slick flesh. To his horror, he felt his muscles collapse instantly. Of course, Stein was a meister, a weapons specialist. If anything, he'd know how to throw a knife with enough precision to hit a base pressure point. Blood dribbled out of the shallow wound, spotting his clothes only a bit but reflecting the light from outside the door just the same. Stein smiled warmly, bending down to pick up his friend's fallen body. The scalpel remained embedded in his shoulder as Stein adjusted him in his arms, holding the smaller man bridal style. He then walked out of the room, singing quietly to the man in his arms as tears of blatant fear curled down his senpai's cheeks._

"_Chop you up, slice you down into little pieces. Worry not, Doctor Stein can make you whole again…"_

**Hoshi: Kinda reminds me of Vash's Genocide song. You know, from Trigun?**

**Kage: Anyway, please review, and look for more Soul Eater fics from us.**

**Hoshi: As Soul Eater is our all time favourite anime, we can't just leave it at this! XD**

**Kage: Review! In fact, here's another pre-written review for your laziness.**

"**Roses are red, violets are blue. In soviet Russia, the game loses you. :P"**


End file.
